Clumsy Hiker- My Broken Ankle, and Journey Back to the Trails

(12 weeks post break / 11 weeks post ORIF) Whatever good luck that a Unicorn Physical Therapist could provide, needed to kick in pretty fast. I would be flying to Denver in 4 days, and to say that I was absolutely terrified to my core would be an understatement. Two feet, firmly planted, on the cold and hard ground. At this point, even though the discomfort in my ankle joint was not as bad as anticipated, I felt about as strong as a wet noodle. Each morning, as I would take my first steps out of bed, my ankle was extremely stiff, and fairly unsteady. As the day progressed, the steps became steadier, but the discomfort remained constant. Near the end of the day, the discomfort would cross over to the threshold of pain (but nothing that some ibuprofen, ice, and elevation couldn’t control). The sole of my foot seemed to have the worst of it. I hadn’t realized how many muscles there were in your feet, until I found out the hard way that I had lost just about every single o...

(12 weeks post break / 11 weeks post ORIF) The hard cast came off this week- and this time it was staying off! The PA and nurse at the clinic were just as surprised to see the fact that I had been put in the hard cast (as I was 2 weeks ago after my screw removal surgery). But alas, I didn’t care anymore- that was done and over with and the last cast was sawed off, leaving behind a trail of fiberglass dust, dead skin, and happiness.  Holy Atrophy, Batman! I also got to take a look at the screw removal incision, which was so thoughtfully placed right along the same incision that had almost fully healed from 10 weeks ago. I guess I was pleased that my ankle would not look like a carved pumpkin, although it was Halloween tomorrow, and I could have used that to my advantage. 3 month old pedicure, on point! Alas, the layers of crusted and Betadine-stained orange dead skin around my entire foot would have to suffice as my scary Halloween-themed post-surgical keepsake. An...

(10 weeks post break / 9 weeks post ORIF) TODAY ( Friday the 13th ) was screw removal surgery day!! I was ecstatic! I took my 4 th shower in less than 24 hours…I simply couldn’t get enough of the feeling of actual water running down my leg that had been freed from its fiberglass cast (a cast that I had been trapped in for nearly 10 weeks)… I got dressed in my ‘surgery casuals’ and we headed to the hospital. They took me to pre-op and I was adamant about wanting to have the procedure done with local anesthesia. After my first surgery (and the very uncomfortable experience with the intubation). I wanted to avoid being intubated, and asked if I could be sedated and have local anesthesia (or a nerve block) instead. After some convincing (and the anesthesiologists finally realizing that I would only be getting one screw removed, not all the hardware- as they previously assumed), they said that local anesthesia and sedation would be sufficient. Obviously, if they felt the need...

(9 weeks post break / 8 weeks post ORIF) This week was spent counting down the minutes until I would be freed from my cast, and placed into the boot. So excited about the prospect of this, I even decorated my cast (using paint pens) in the cheeriest way that I could think! Bright and beautiful butterflies and flowers speckled throughout my cast, I was ready to take on the world in excitement that this was my last week in the cast! It might be raining, But I'm bringing my own SUNSHINE!   This final week in my cast would also encompass my greatest mobility challenge yet: A 3-day conference where I would be away from home, and navigating a new place around mostly strangers, all the while having to deal with my mobility aids, and all the tedious processes that go along with them. Prior to the trip, I was fairly anxious about being able to handle the challenges that would come along with it. Partly due to the fact that everything took longer for me now th...